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Animated Atrocities 119/Transcript
Family intro theme song I'm nervous about this video. To the point where I'm glad that I had a 15-minute time limit so that this video would be delayed. But it seems that YouTube has changed the rules: now you can upload 15-minute videos until you get two strikes. Why am I nervous? Well, you'll only figure that out at the end, but to start it off, this is going to be another intense video. And I keep feeling that each one of them could be like my Waterloo or something like that. And on top of that, I'm a bit conflicted on the show itself. The Goode Family. You know that term, 'Ahead of its time'? Well, that term describes this show perfectly. The Goode Family is ahead of its time in the worst way possible. Let me put it this way: if this show was made here in 2016, it would most likely be good. Instead, it was made in 2009, and those 7 years have made all the difference. It actually feels kind of crazy how much the world itself has changed since then. I'm getting ahead of myself. The Goode Family is what Mike Judge did after King of the Hill and it's probably the worst cartoon that he's had a part of. That isn't saying very much since his only other 2 shows were definitely at least decent and had plenty of longevity. I like Beavis and Butthead and, despite my reviews on certain episodes, I really like King of the Hill a lot. It filled a niche that not many other cartoons would do. I would say it's a niche that still hasn't been filled to this day. And I think talking about King of the Hill puts this show in context: The Goode Family tries to do for liberalism and left-leaning ideologies what King of the Hill did for conservatism and right-leaning ideologies. But it's clear that the staff didn't know how to write left-leaning people as anything but an antagonist. Because what they resorted to doing with this show is making everything the opposite of King of the Hill! I'm serious we got like a yin-yang going on here. Even down to the palette: while King of the Hill often used duller shades and more browns, the Goode Family is very colorful, sometimes to an uncomfortable degree. King of the Hill was usually pretty subtle and subdued and down-to-earth; the Goode Family is as over-the-top as possible! King of the Hill put its characters before the politics; this one we get political issues before we get characters. Hank Hill loved and doted on his dog; this family is so neglectful and stupid that they unwittingly abuse their dog. This is a political show. - (n) the fastest way to lose friends It tries to be satire; something like South Park. So I thought I'd be forward with where I stand politically. If you have a problem with that, blame Captain Planet! He's making me review a show that portrays environmentalists in a bad light after I tried to melt the Arctic to eradicate the species of Arctic lemmings! I'm an independent centrist. Like every single political compass test that I take puts me dead in the center. Sometimes a little left, sometimes a little right. The only bias I have is anti-authoritarian. Let me put it this way: during events like the BP oil spill, I feel very left-leaning; every time I hear about the crazy shit going on at college campuses, I feel very right-leaning. I know there's the old saying that those standing in the middle of the road, are the ones who most likely get run over, and moderates are sometimes treated as worse than extremists lately, but this is how I truly feel. I also feel that despite how different both sides seem, they have a lot in common sometimes; I am a firm believer in the horseshoe theory. theory - the far right and the far left have more in common with each other than the center 'We need to ban this central image, it is indecent and immoral!", says the far right; 'We need to ban this central image, it objectifies women!', says the sexually liberated left as they complain about Bayonetta. 'We need to ban drugs. That will totally solve all of our problems with drugs!', says the right; 'We need to ban guns. That will totally solve all of our problems with guns!', says the left. Keep in mind, that I am speaking in generalities. And each of these topics can be contained in their own videos. I might talk about them in my vlog channel if anyone is interested, because there's not enough time here. understand that gun control doesn't mean banning all guns; just as drug control doesn't mean banning all drugs. The most common ones that lead to the most deaths - the smaller, more popular ones - will still be legal. But on top of that, I have seen the dark side of both the left and the right. Both sides, if left to their own devices, can get to a pretty scary place. And to be totally honest and to be totally forward, I hear more and more craziness coming out of the far left. I mean with the crazy rights, everyone calls them homophobic and racist and whatever as they should, but the craziness of the left is often ignored. Let me throw up an example: with the recent Brexit, one of the negative effects cited is that it might give rise to right-wing groups. Right-wing has become an insult, when it's a neutral term. Right-wing now means backwards. Intolerant. Inconsiderate. And trust me, people on the left-wing can be just as backwards, intolerant, and inconsiderate. Much of the issues that I've talked about in my 'Scream of Silence', 'Peter-assment', 'and Homer Badman', especially the latter one, have come out of issues that I've had with the left. So why am I reviewing a show that basically tries to demonize and satirize left-wing ideology? It came out in 2009. Let's get into it and I'll show you what I mean. The show starts with a hybrid car with a ton of bumper stickers, that shows that they eat organic, they recycle, they're vegan, and they're apparently Communists. This is a terrible first image. First of all, besides naming the dog Che, the Goode Family don't espouse communism or talk about communism at all. It's just here because it's another left-leaning ideology and, from the very first image, we see the show's age. I don't really see Eco-consciousness and veganism as popular as they were a few years ago, and that seems to be the route to take with the Goode Family: veganism and eco-consciousness is their most prominent belief. Gerald: 'Look who's got elephant dung! They were just giving it away at the circus. That's another problem. This show has many of the same voice actors as King of the Hill and they do absolutely nothing to distinguish their voice. Gerald here sounds like Hank Hill holding his nose shut, and yes, they're both voiced by the same person. '''Ubuntu: '''Circus? They exploit animals. And hairy ladies. '''Helen: '''But it is for an organic garden. Being good is so hard. You have no idea! But, as you can see, we are introduced to 4 characters: all of the same disposition and all a part of the same stereotype. Back to King of the Hill. Though pretty much all the main characters agreed with each other politically, they had a wide range of personalities. '''Charlie: '''I got some grub from the Soul Shack. Man, those folks can make some colored greens. '''Helen: '''Dad, it's ''collard greens! 'Charlie: '''Right, and it's ''collard ''people! Here we see Cotton Hill playing Cotton Hill. '''Helen: '''My dad is insane! And ignorant. And offensive. Is it so hard for him to say 'African-American'? Wait, is that what we're supposed to call them? [ As Nick Wilde would say, "oh so there's a 'them' now"] You know one thing that you can do to ensure that your series is going to fail? Start by making your characters absolutely reprehensible! But I-I know what they're trying to do: put the politics before the people. The Goode Family are racists who try to dress up their racism in fancy politically correct words. And yes, this has become a very significant problem; with people who claim to fight for ethnic minorities, or women, or LGBT people, and just lumping them all into one group and assume they're homogenous. have a word for assuming that all people of a specific group espouse a specific trait - prejudice While this did happen when the show came out, it wasn't as prevalent and it wasn't as extreme as it is today. So we spend about a minute with the Goode Family trying to figure out what to call their black neighbor. Instead of treating him like a person, they're so socially tolerant, that his race is the first thing that they see and the first thing that they care about. Even as a satire though, these are our main characters and, on some level, we're supposed to like them. You know, in South Park we like the kids because they're funny. These.. this isn't funny. It goes on forever. And these people are nothing more than shitty. Let me put it this way: if you're left-leaning, you're probably someone insulted by this portrayal; if you're right-leaning, you probably find these characters annoying. So most of the show is roughly tolerable from a watching perspective. I mean the animation can get kind of uncanny, but there's nothing too cruel or disturbing. Except the treatment of Che. He's gone feral because his owners think that it's okay to give a dog a vegan diet. In the entire series he's largely starved and killing random animals. Yes, dogs can eat table scraps like bread and stuff, but they're barely omnivores and they need to eat meat. Or they will miss out on essential nutrition that they need, and they'll probably end up dead. '''Helen: '''As I was saying we are called vegans. Just like you and people of your background are called... Nee... '''Neighbor: '''Huh? '''Helen: '''Afriiii-- '''Neighbor: '''Hmm. '''Helen: '''Blaaaa-- Okay! I get it! Can you move on to the next joke? You're driving it into the ground! Yeah, that's another problem with this series: every time they want to take shots at people, it just goes on and on. Tell your joke and move on to the next one. Keep it snappy! That is what South Park does and that is what you're trying to do. go really big and over-the-top, like with the South Park "Safe Space" song. Also, the son's name is Ubuntu. You know, like the operating system. And there is a reason he's dressed as he is. might be the joke, although Ubuntu is a philosophy of southern African origin. So, I can't really tell. They named their daughter Bliss. '''Helen: '''We wanted to do our part to fight racism and inequality in the world! So we adopted an African baby. '''Gerald: '''Turns out we forgot to check a box and we got you from ''South Africa. But we showed that with a lot of love and a little guidance, the offspring of 2 criminal, racist Afrikaners, could become a gentle, socially-conscious young man. Ubuntu is Chris Griffin. Oh by the way, I don't think that Ubuntu can get away with wearing what he is right now, in a crazy left house, without being accused of a cultural appropriation. Despite the fact that he's actually from Africa; granted, a different part of Africa than the garb he's wearing, but still. Also, with that attitude, he should probably be shell-shocked from all the ancestor-shaming. 'Gerald: '''But we showed that with a lot of love and a little guidance, the offspring of 2 criminal, racist Afrikaners-- You know, ancestor-shaming: this person's ancestors did some horrible shit and so they must pay! Or my ancestors had some horrible shit done to them and so I must be repaid! This has been coming up more and more a lot recently. Which is why, like I said, the show came out too soon! Ancestor-shaming is a concept that's always really confused me growing up. I'm mostly Polish and I'm only like a 6th-generation American. My ancestors left Poland after it was ravaged by World War 1. And keep in mind that Poland is a mostly white country, but it has been one of the most invaded countries in history! Also, I'm part German which, at one point in history, invaded Poland. So, following this logic, I'd need to give reparations to myself apparently. For Ubuntu's 16th birthday, he wants to be able to drive. '''Ubuntu: '''Drive. '''Helen: '''Another driver? WWAGD? What would Al Gore do? Claim that he invented the Internet? '''Gerald: '''Now, Ubuntu, with greater emissions come greater responsibility. If you see someone eating a hot dog, fucking run them over! We'll blame it on Grand Theft Auto later! This is a very different episode, ladies and gentlemen. '''Ubuntu: 'car noises 'Helen: '''Who said parenting is hard? You know, whenever a character says that in a television show, whether it's serious or not, my dislike for them grows a lot. The mother, Helen, tries to converse with her daughter by spying on her computer. Top notch parenting! God, if you want to know what your kids are up to, just track their email and check up on the router like a normal, abusive, privacy-invading parent, god! '''Helen: '''She wouldn't even listen to me '''Gerald: '''Don't worry. If you weren't close, she wouldn't feel comfortable ignoring you like that. See. It's lines like that. In the modern day, it's a lot easier to retool that and make it a truly powerful punch. So the other plot is about mother-daughter bonding. Neither of them have that much of a character in this episode beyond empty shell and typical teen. King of the Hill and American Dad: they work so well because the child is so in conflict with their parents ideology. If Bliss was more right-leaning, then the show could actually have some interesting and meaningful conflict. This kind of story though, you could get it anywhere else! Then we have a very dated gag. Were all of the diet fads really related to stuff like veganism and eco-consciousness? I get that there were definitely a lot of fad foods and they make fun of it a bit. But even in 2009, was it really this prevalent? I know that plenty of people eat organic foods or vegetarians or vegans and I don't have a problem with them. It's just that the Goode Family, as shown, is only following social trends. They're not doing it to be good, but to look good. Nowadays, it's more that people do absolutely reprehensible things to other people to show the world that they're good people. They will hate as many people as possible to show how socially tolerant they are. '''Margo: '''Helen! It's such a nice surprise to see ''you shopping here. 'Helen: 'laughs You always say that, Margo! '''Margo: '''Because it's always true. whispers They're poor. For example, an actual crazy person on the left would be condescending and offer as much charity as possible. To show how helpful they are to the poor, while looking down on the poor. Especially because in the story, these people would be trying to one-up each other with how moral they are, so they can look down on each other. But because environmentalism is this show's one thing to attack, we get a hypertensius moment about paper or plastic bags, a controversy that was kind of dead on arrival. And this shows how different the show is to King of the Hill: that show worked because it was subdued and down-to-earth, the conflicts were very realistic, and it allowed the messages in stories to come across very well. This is overblown nonsense! We see a moment with Bliss talking to... Beavis, who is trying to make a documentary or something, and put it up on YouTube. Because this show is desperate to seem hip and relevant in its pilot. Yeah, I know that YouTube actually did take off, obviously, but, for all the showrunners knew, it could've ended up like that time Hank Hill went on MySpace. '''Margo: '''When I knew my Celia was sexually active, because she told me of course,--- A PERFECTLY NATURAL CONVERSATION TO HAVE!! WITH ANYONE! '''Woman: '''My daughter and I held each other and we cried with happiness as the doctor measured her cervix. One day, you're comparing your kid's macaroni art. The next time you're talking about how many times you heard thumping against the wall when you're trying to watch Jeopardy, they do grow up so fast! '''Margo: '''You'd better be. Otherwise who is she going to learn about sex from? The Internet? The Pussycat Dolls? Oh, it's skanky out there, Helen! '''Woman: '''Or the other extreme is even worse: she could be influenced by some sexually repressed religious fanatics. Like those people who tell them at any second even the closest person they know could turn out to be a ferocious rapist and scar them for life? And they should be paranoid of sex every waking moment? The ones that tell women they should expect their partner to read their minds and know at the very instant if they're uncomfortable? Oh wait, that was several years into the future. Hey that's another thing that the crazy left and the crazy right have in common: they both like to promote the worst and darkest aspects of sex as the most common type of sex. The crazy right says that you'll get pregnant immediately and you're going to hell; the crazy left says that you'll get raped immediately and your life becomes hell. '''Helen: '''No. '''Speaker: '''Attention, One Earth shoppers, the driver of the SUV is in aisle 4. He's wearing the baseball cap. Is there some joke that I missed out on? Or is that another stereotype? '''Helen: '''So, saw you talking to Trayvon. H-O-T-T hot! Are you guys serious or you just keeping it cascasual? we've talked about this. It's okay for your daughter to find a 16-year-old hot, but as a society we frown on it if you do it. I get that the scene is supposed to be awkward and annoying, but it's awkward and annoying and I just want it to stop! Something about a parent wanting to casually talk about their daughter's sex life just kinda feels wrong. '''Helen: '''But it's cool. It's all cool. Sex is cool. We just hang and rap about it. Know what I'm sayin'? That some kind of BDSM thing? Also, you rapping would be cultural appropriation. Oh wait, what am I talking about? That didn't exist until 2012. I keep forgetting that this show is a time paradox! So Bliss and Helen go to the community college, to learn about all kinds of methods of sex. Not the place that I'd go to learn about sex; not the place that ANYONE should go to learn about sex! And if you don't know why, watch my 'Homer Badman' follow-up. That's why. They come across the booth for abstinence only education, which would definitely not be found on a community college nowadays! And to piss off her mother, Bliss decides to take it. '''Helen: '''Look Bliss, free samples! I wouldn't take a method of birth control that's been sitting outside and only supervised by one person for several hours. At a community college. And then more talk about sex. If you're wondering, I'm not grossed out. It just comes across as awkward and stupid. If we got more of Bliss's perspective, this might work out. But we just have our main characters being very awkward around people and it's not enjoyable at all. In any way. Honestly, the show would work better if the Goode Family were the neighbors, not the main characters. love to watch a show about this guy putting up with the Goode family They could be like the Gribbles or something. '''Helen: '''I don't understand. Everything was going so perfect. I was gonna tell her the story of my first orgasm. You know what? I think I'm done here! I've critiqued this show enough and-- '''Captain Planet: '''I'm baaaacccckkk! Okay guess not then! To piss off her mother, and maybe to get them to shut up about orgasms at the fucking dinner table, Bliss has chosen abstinence as her birth control method. '''Bliss: '''Sorry I'm late. I went back to the college. '''Gerald: '''You went back? '''Helen: '''You went back! Did you pick a contraceptive? Pill? No, diaphragm! Wait condom, of course! '''Bliss: '''I picked abstinence. '''Helen: '''Oh god. They got you. Let me guess: you're open to any of her choices unless it's the traditional one. If she wanted to be a housewife, you'd say she's being hypnotized or manipulated or otherwise not able to make her own choices. this show came out in 2009 Yeah, that was a problem back then too! Then again, it is a worse problem now. I'm probably going to do an extra thoughts on this review, but I don't want to. Like I said before, I feel like this review might get me into some hot water. Then again, I felt like that for the 'Homer Badman' review, the 'Screams of Silence' review, and the 'Peter-assment' reviews ,too. Especially the 'Homer Badman' review. And the reason why I'm going down a lot of left-leaning stuff is because that's what this show is doing and it's not doing a good job at it. When I review King of the Hill again, I'm going to do the same thing for the other side. '''Gerald: '''Are more secure, healthier and end up in better marriages. '''Helen: '''I've got no problem with abstinence. It's these abstinence people! They're not like us. Is our socially conscious person a little bit prejudiced? Hating on someone for a belief system? have subtlety or don't. If you want this show to be subdued, tone it down. If you want it to be over-the-top, ramp it up '''Gerald: '''So judgmental! Don't we always try to celebrate people's differences and learn from them? '''Helen: '''Sure, if they're like Native Americans, or backwards rainforest tribes, but not these people! When this came out, that probably sounded really ham-fisted and way too over-the-top. Now however, people are very politically polarized; possibly the most that they have been since the 1960s or 70s. In left-leaning places, for instance, people with right-leaning opinions are basically afraid to speak their mind, and vice-versa. Why? Because it seems like every issue has been put on a moral pedestal. If you talk negatively about gun control, you're seen as a backwards, redneck, gun-lover who is willing to let people die to protect their pride. Talk positively about immigration reform and you're branded as a racist. You talk down affirmative action and you're seen as a bigot. And no issue is as straightforward as that. '''Man: '''There seems to be a mistake here. Under ethnicity you put down African-American. '''Ubuntu: '''Yeah. - a weird joke - could be its own episode '''Gerald: '''Well, yes. See Ubuntu is African-American. He's an American now, but he was born in South Africa. Now here's another thing: several years later, there will be an actual controversy about someone claiming to be African-American, when they weren't. This show has been off the air for 7 years, and then that happened. So many crazy things have happened, and it seems like there are crazier and crazier things happening every year that really deserve to be lampooned. Just take a look at our election right now in the United States! '''Gerald: '''Huh. That must be the other couple we're going with. '''Helen: '''Couple? Gerald, don't you see how creepy it is? You know, unlike talking about orgasms at the dinner table or is that some joke that the show doesn't have the pacing to convey? That thing happened like, 5 plot points ago. So they gotta go back-to-back if you want this to be funny. So Bliss and her father go to the Purity Ball, where this happens. '''Abstinence Girl: You didn't forget the ring, did you? Abstinence Girl's Father: 'Got it right here, sugar. '''Gerald: '''Ring? '''Abstinence Girl: '''For the ceremony. The daughters pledge our virginity, as symbolized by this ring, and then the fathers keep the ring, our virginity, until we need it back, on our wedding night. Another problem with the show is that while King of the Hill did plenty of mocking of left-leaning people, this show only ''rarely goes so far with mocking right-leaning people. We're 16 minutes into a 22-minute episode before this happens, and all of those have been bashing people on the left. show attacked even the simplest bit of organic foods, but it's only mocking the most extreme aspects of the abstinence-only lifestyle. There's a bit of a double-standard with the show It doesn't make for a good show if your main characters are essentially a strawman, to be constantly bludgeoned for what they believe in or for what they are. You need these kind of characters to be on the sidelines, or it gets tiring very quickly. So, to not be forced to essentially marry her father, Bliss and Gerald try to escape from the room, only to be ambushed by Beavis, who is trying to make a documentary and put it up on YouTube. The legends say that it was only up for 7 days before it was copyright struck by the California Raisins. 'Gerald: '''I cannot be seen here. I work in academia! I'll never live this down. Considering how easy that joke is to make, and it is the easiest joke I could have ever made, I'm going to assume that it's another one of those aged poorly lines. So we've got, I'll be honest, a pretty weird climax: Bliss and Gerald get out easily and Ubuntu gets into a street race. We see the dog starving and trying to kill a cat and it's just painful to watch. And then they get out of there. '''Helen: 'drunk It's so hard to be good. I just want to be close to my daughter. And buy organic apples. And call minorities by the right name. Is that like a big convention where all the minorities get together to decide what they want to call things? What to wear? Hairstyles? Like the afro. That was a good one. '''Neighbor: beat It's in Memphis. You know what? Maybe the show would be better if all the characters were constantly drunk? It makes their behavior so much more believable is literally exactly as subtle as the rest of the behavior Bliss: 'Mom-- '''Helen: 'drunk 'I'm sorry if I pushed you. I just wanted us to be close. Alcohol! The miracle drug! It wears off instantly! Alcohol is not a miracle drug, and it does not wear off quickly. Do not drink it and do something that comes with a lot of risk, you will either regret it or you'll be dead. Please don't sue me '''Ubuntu: '''Sorry I used so much gas, Dad. '''Gerald: '''It's okay, Ubuntu. What's important is that you feel guilty about it. And that sums up the show quite nicely. Why did King of the Hill work, and this one didn't? Because the characters don't really go beyond their stereotypes. The show is just constantly mocking a strawman, and you know what? The show would be great if you wanted to watch a cartoon make fun of crazy people on the left. If the show came out half a decade later! All of the issues that I've talked about started in 2011, at the earliest. I know I said I wouldn't talk about products of their time, but this seems like an exception to the rule. Especially with current events. I have no problem with people due to their political leanings. Whether they be liberal or conservative, left or right, or vegan. Crazy people exist on both ends of the spectrum. Here's a litmus test: if you tell me that I'm going to hell, you're probably a crazy person on the right; if you're complaining about me because I keep using the word 'crazy', even though you don't have a diagnosed mental illness and I do, you're a crazy person on the left. Do people like the Goode Family exist? I mean, off of tumblr and off of community college campuses, yes they do. And you know what? In 10 years, we're going to see them as the far-right homophobes of the last 20, and then we'll have a new brand of crazy that bubbles up! It's how time works. Remember that the moral high ground is made of pillars of salt and pillars of sand. And people tend to do some absolutely reprehensible things to prove to their peers that they are good people. At one point, it was stoning heathens and blasphemers to get them to shut up; we didn't like them to talk badly about God. Now it's blacklisting them, branding them as any type of bigot, and censoring them in any attempt to get them to shut up; because they don't like our unspoken truths. The tools and the methods change with time, but the intentions do not. Throughout all of human history, we have been the same animals, with the same chemistry, and the same biology. Despite our modern technology and our more modern lives, we are just as susceptible to witch burnings, as those from the Middle Ages. And we will do it for exactly the same reasons: we are the good and moral ones, and the witches of the world are a plague on humanity and they must be stopped by any means necessary. I've seen many people claim to speak for groups that they're not a part of, and if the people within that group disagree with them, they're assumed to be brainwashed, or society has programmed them to be that way; like they have no autonomy. And they are the biggest racist, sexist people out there nowadays. They claim that this group doesn't have a voice, while denying them a voice. Speaking as someone who has had that happen to him, it's not a pleasant feeling. People using the word 'sperg', to purposely insult me for something that I cannot control, is nowhere near as dangerous and evil and is something I despise as much as something like Autism Speaks: something that pretends to be good, might even think that it's good, but really isn't! Something that claims to speak for me, takes all the attention of the issues that I truly face, and shits all over it. It's kind of a tragedy that The Goode Family was made far too early. Because in this day and age, when I hear crazier and crazier news, it seems like we kind of ''need a Goode Family. Oh wait, we have South Park! Nevermind! Category:Transcripts Category:Season 4